Insurance news

• Endurance looks to grow US binder book with Fornof hire

  21-04-2016 21:47
  Endurance has staffed up its contract binding operations (CBO)
  division in the US as it looks to expand its distribution partners
  and continue growing the business, Inside
  E&S can reveal.
  The Bermudian has hired Troy Fornof from US wholesaler USG
  Insurance Services as national distribution director for the
  unit.
  The executive officially joined Endurance on Monday (18 April)
  and will report into Scott Shader, who was recently promoted to
  executive vice president and head of CBO.
  At USG Insura
  
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• Brown & Brown wholesale revenues climb

  21-04-2016 21:47
  Brown & Brown's wholesale brokerage platform booked solid
  organic growth of 3.4 percent in the first quarter as revenues
  climbed to $47.9mn.
  Binding authority and professional liability continued to
  produce growth across most lines of business, said the company.
  It did report rate declines on binding authority and ongoing
  soft conditions for coastal property business, with pricing off 15
  to 25 percent.
  The firm's national programs division grew by 1.6 percent on
  an underlying basis, with bot
  
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• AM Best goes negative on Sirius

  21-04-2016 21:47
  Ratings agency AM Best has assigned a negative outlook to the
  financial strength rating and issuer credit rating of Sirius just
  days after the carrier was taken over by China Minsheng Investment
  (CMI).
  In July, AM Best placed the carrier's rating under review
  with negative implications after its then-parent White Mountains
  announced that it had agreed to sell the business.
  Following the deal, which closed on Monday (18 April) AM Best
  said the decision reflected its concerns that CMI had...
  
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• AJG continues to expand wholesale platform

  21-04-2016 21:47
  AJ Gallagher (AJG) has added to its expansive wholesale and
  managing general agent (MGA) platform Risk Placement Services (RPS)
  with the acquisition of Nevada-based managing general agent KDC
  Associates.
  KDC was founded in 2008 and provides admitted and E&S,
  P&C and other specialty products and services to independent
  retail insurance broker clients.
  The company specialises in the motor, manufacturing, commercial
  construction, wholesale, hotels and property owner sectors.
  KDC chief execu
  
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• RSA planning to halve UK staff redundancy payouts

  21-04-2016 17:47
  
  RSA is planning to halve the amount of redundancy pay for staff who joined the company before April 2013.
  
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• Ecuador quake insured losses could reach $850mn: AIR

  21-04-2016 17:19
  Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has estimated industry
  insured losses from the magnitude 7.8 Ecuadorian earthquake at
  between $325mn and $850mn.
  The quake, which stuck near the coast of Ecuador on 16 April at
  a depth of 19km, destroyed more than 1,100 buildings and damaged
  more than 800, according to AIR. Some 570 people were killed in the
  disaster, with more than 4,600 injured.
  Other effects include a lack of running water, power and
  communications systems, damage to highways and...
  
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• Allstate reveals Q1 hit from Texas hailstorms

  21-04-2016 17:19
  US insurance giant Allstate has warned that it will absorb an
  $827mn hit to its first quarter results, stemming from a series of
  hailstorms in Texas earlier this year.
  The carrier said the losses came from 17 events across the first
  three months of the year that were partially offset by a
  "minor" reserve re-estimate of previously reported cat
  losses.
  Allstate is due to report its Q1 2016 results on 4 May.
  "These storms, one of which ranks as the...
  
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• RSA looks to cut redundancy payouts amid restructuring

  21-04-2016 16:44
  
  Long-term staff at RSA have been informed they could lose up to 50% of their redundancy pay under proposed changes to contracts.
  
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• A great stamp duty rush, and how to ring the changes on nuisance calls

  21-04-2016 15:24
  
  Plus homes to party in, making insurers pay and the London to Margate train journey that cost £268Hello and welcome to this week’s Money Talks – a roundup of the week’s biggest stories and some things you may have missed. Continue reading...
  
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• Zurich's Riordan returns to market with XL Catlin

  21-04-2016 15:01
  XL Catlin has hired former Zurich North America Global Corporate
  CEO Dan Riordan as president of its global political risk and trade
  credit (PRTC) unit, the company announced today (21 April).
  He will join the company from 2 May and will report to the
  carrier's chief executive of global specialty insurance Neil
  Robertson.
  Riordan left his role at Zurich North America last October to
  "pursue professional opportunities" outside the
  company.
  His appointment marks a structural change for XL Catlin,
  
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• Travelers hit by Texas hail as price rises slow

  21-04-2016 15:01
  Travelers reported a further deceleration in US P&C commercial
  rating momentum today (21 April), with its key rating indices now
  close to flat.
  The US insurer's operating income also fell 15.6 percent
  year-on-year in the first quarter to $698mn, after being hit by
  increased catastrophe losses from the March hailstorms in
  Texas.
  Travelers, which is seen as a bellwether for the wider US
  commercial insurance market, reported renewal rate increases of 2.2
  percent, excluding national accounts, fo
  
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• RMS: Japan quake economic losses could reach $3.5bn

  21-04-2016 15:01
  Catastrophe risk management firm RMS has estimated economic
  property losses resulting from the earthquakes that hit Japan last
  week at between $2.5bn and $3.5bn.
  The estimate includes damage to property and contents for
  residential, commercial and industrial buildings, but not losses
  related to business interruption, shake and landslide-induced
  damage to infrastructure or damage to Kumamoto Castle.
  RMS said the estimates were based on findings from its
  representatives on the ground, combined wit
  
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• Japan quake insured losses up to $2.9bn: AIR

  21-04-2016 15:01
  Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has estimated insured
  property losses from the earthquakes that struck Japan's
  Kumamoto prefecture last week at between 180bn yen ($1.7bn) and
  320bn yen ($2.9bn).
  International reinsurers will pick up the first dollar losses
  from the quakes owing to the massive quake quota shares that are
  bought by the big three Japanese insurers, although the loss ratios
  are likely to be very manageable owing to the huge ceded premiums
  on these deals.
  The quake, which re
  
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• Aon Securities: Q1 cat bond issuance up 31%

  21-04-2016 15:01
  First quarter catastrophe bond issuance grew 31 percent
  year-on-year to $2.2bn, according to Aon Securities.
  This growth contributed to overall market expansion, with
  outstanding catastrophe bond limit reaching a new market high of
  $25bn as of 31 March, the firm said in its Q1 ILS update.
  Aon Securities CEO Paul Schultz said the firm looked forward to
  a strong second quarter to match the unmet market demand.
  "With market volume typically concentrated around the
  important reinsurance renewals per
  
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• Liquidators receive 5,000 claims against Independent Insurance

  21-04-2016 14:29
  
  More than 5,000 claims have been made on the estate of collapsed Independent Insurance, administrators said.
  
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• Marsh-owned Jelf names new direct and network heads

  21-04-2016 14:18
  
  Marsh-owned Jelf has appointed Duncan Carter to the role of Direct and Partnership (D&P) chief executive.
  
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• Tony Allen shifts focus to A&A’s Gibraltar insurer in reshuffle

  21-04-2016 12:11
  
  A&A Group chief executive Tony Allen is shifting his focus to the group’s Gibraltar-based insurer, Mulsanne Insurance Company, as part of a reshuffle.
  
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• Duncan Carter to lead direct and partnerships division at Jelf

  21-04-2016 11:33 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Paul Kershaw new boss of Marsh networks.
  
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• Italian insurance sees stable outlook for 2016

  21-04-2016 11:12
  
  Ratings agency Fitch Ratings has forecast a stable 2016 for non-life insurers in the Italian market.
  
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• BP Marsh moves into Asia with ARB stake

  21-04-2016 10:46
  Insurance venture capital firm BP Marsh has announced it has
  acquired a 20 percent stake in Asia Reinsurance Brokers (ARB) for a
  total consideration of 2.4mn Singaporean dollars ($1.8mn).
  The move marks BP Marsh's first into an Asian company, and
  takes its total portfolio to 15 investments.
  Under the deal, BP Marsh can also increase its shareholding to
  25 percent for an additional cash consideration of 500,000
  Singaporean dollars. The consideration paid by the group will be
  dependent on the...
  
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• Digital start-ups: Ready to launch

  21-04-2016 10:30
  
  With a new start-up being founded every minute in the UK, the insurance industry has to meet the needs of this new breed of client.
  
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• Broker Direct awarded chartered insurer status

  21-04-2016 10:09 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Company hails staff’s achievement in qualification process.
  
  Read more

• Uninsurance, 'panic' key reasons why young drivers ‘hit and run’

  21-04-2016 10:04
  
  While rates of uninsurance have halved since 2005, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau has raised concerns the level of ‘hit and run’ incidents has not fallen by a similar scale.
  
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• Enterprise to expand in UK following Italy and Ireland exits

  21-04-2016 09:38
  
  Enterprise Insurance Company (EIC) is planning to expanding its niche commercial vehicle products to UK brokers on the Open GI and SSP platforms as it has exited a number of partnership in Italy and Ireland.
  
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• Pensioner behind Munich Re agency bomb hoax jailed

  21-04-2016 09:06
  
  A pensioner who carried out a bomb hoax against a Munich-Re owned underwriting agency has been jailed for 16 months.
  
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• Pensioner behind bomb hoax on Munich Re underwriting agency jailed

  21-04-2016 09:06
  
  A pensioner who carried out a bomb hoax against a Munich-Re owned underwriting agency has been jailed for 16 months.
  
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• RLI profits jump 9% in Q1

  21-04-2016 02:01
  US specialty insurer RLI saw operating earnings jump 9 percent
  to $24mn in the first quarter of the year, up from $22mn for the
  same period in 2015.
  The carrier reported an 88 percent combined ratio marking a
  slight improvement on the 89.5 percent it reported this time last
  year.
  Book value per share has also improved by 6 percent to $19.97
  since the beginning of the year.
  "We are off to a solid start to the year," said RLI...
  
  Read more

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